Claim OwnershipThe C.S. Lewis podcast
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A weekly podcast from Premier Unbelievable? with Professor Alister McGrath exploring C.S. Lewis’ thought, theology and teaching.
C.S. Lewis is one of the most influential voices in modern Christianity. The 20th Century British writer and lay theologian has profoundly impacted Christians around the world and brought many atheists and agnostics to faith in Jesus.
One person whose faith was greatly encouraged by the writings of C.S. Lewis is Professor Alister McGrath. Both men were raised in Northern Ireland, studied at Oxford University and went on to become professors there. They also both came to faith from atheism slightly later in life. Alister has written numerous books on C.S. Lewis, including a seminal biography C.S. Lewis – A Life.
Every Monday, Ruth Jackson and Professor Alister McGrath will reflect on C.S. Lewis’ ideas, life and influence as well as trying to answer questions that impact culture today.
C.S. Lewis is one of the most influential voices in modern Christianity. The 20th Century British writer and lay theologian has profoundly impacted Christians around the world and brought many atheists and agnostics to faith in Jesus.
One person whose faith was greatly encouraged by the writings of C.S. Lewis is Professor Alister McGrath. Both men were raised in Northern Ireland, studied at Oxford University and went on to become professors there. They also both came to faith from atheism slightly later in life. Alister has written numerous books on C.S. Lewis, including a seminal biography C.S. Lewis – A Life.
Every Monday, Ruth Jackson and Professor Alister McGrath will reflect on C.S. Lewis’ ideas, life and influence as well as trying to answer questions that impact culture today.
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For today’s special episode, Ruth is joined by Alister McGrath for part 2 of a live event recording of the CS Lewis Podcast, captured in front of an audience. In this episode, the conversation dives into one of the most pressing questions of our time: truth. Is belief in God necessary for discovering truth? Why does it matter whether Christianity is true? And how might CS Lewis respond to today’s culture wars, technological challenges, and debates about meaning and morality?
Drawing on Lewis’ insights and McGrath’s scholarship, they explore how truth shapes identity, purpose, and the way we navigate uncertainty in the modern world. The discussion illuminates why Lewis’ ideas remain so compelling—and so relevant—today.
This programme was made in partnership with the New Renaissance Project at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford.
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For today's special episode, Ruth is joined by Alister McGrath for a special live event of the CS Lewis Podcast, recorded in front of an audience. The conversation explores today’s major questions about meaning, identity, and uncertainty, which of Lewis’ works speak most clearly now, and why he remains so relevant in the modern world.
This programme was made in partnership with the New Renaissance Project at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford.
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In this episode taken from the Lesser Known Lewis podcast, Ruth, Steven and Jordan share their final reflections on Lewis' Christian Apologetics essay. They discuss how the essay was helpful for their faith, thick or clear religion, strengthening your Christian practices and imposter syndrome.
Lesser Known Lewis Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lesser-known-lewis-christian-reflections-on-c-s-lewiss/id1628447813
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In this special edition of the CS Lewis Podcast, we’re sharing a conversation first recorded for the Lesser Known Lewis podcast, kindly made available for our listeners. Ruth Jackson joins hosts Jordan Duncan and Sean Stevenson Douglas to explore one of Lewis’s lesser-known apologetic essays, written in 1945, and ask how it speaks to today’s cultural moment. Together they reflect on truth, authenticity, beauty, and imagination in Christian apologetics, especially in a post-Christian, post-modern age. The discussion ranges from Lewis’s defence of objective truth to the power of beauty, story, and lived faith, with rich reflections on Narnia, miracles, politics, and the modern search for meaning. A thoughtful, wide-ranging conversation that shows just how timeless, and timely, Lewis remains.
Lesser Known Lewis Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lesser-known-lewis-christian-reflections-on-c-s-lewiss/id1628447813
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This is a special episode taken from the Lesser Known Lewis podcast, a podcast which focuses on CS Lewis' essays and short works, which Ruth Jackson was a guest on in 2024. She discusses CS Lewis' speech 'Christian Apologetics' and provides insight into her background with Lewis.
Lesser Known Lewis podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/lesser-known-lewis-christian-reflections-on-c-s-lewiss/id1628447813
The Scott Tuohy episode: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/the-cs-lewis-podcast/the-cs-lewis-podcast-178-scott-tuohy-a-lewis-quotation-changed-my-life/18303.article
+ Support us here: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/geolink/donate
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Dr Crystal Hurd - an educator, poet, and researcher from Virginia - and host Ruth Jackson explore what leadership looks like through the lens of CS Lewis, not as power or prominence, but as quiet faithfulness in everyday life. Crystal reflects on Lewis’ conviction that most leadership happens far from the spotlight: in homes, classrooms, churches, and communities, where ordinary people shape others through character, humility, and care.
The discussion ranges from Lewis’ fictional leaders such as Lucy Pevensie and Orual, to his warnings about the temptations of authority and the need to remain grounded in God. Crystal also addresses accusations of misogyny, drawing on Lewis’ letters, friendships, and advocacy for women such as Elizabeth Anscombe.
Together, Ruth Jackson and Crystal Hurd ask what it means to “light the corner you’re in”—and why Lewis believed such leadership still has the power to change the world.
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Dr Crystal Hurd, an educator, poet, and researcher from Virginia, discusses CS Lewis as a model of compassionate, resilient, and creative leadership. Together, Ruth and Crystal explore how Lewis demonstrated compassion in his life and work, how he responded to suffering and criticism with resilience, and the ways he inspired others both in his own time and today. The discussion also considers Lewis’ imaginative approach to leadership and why his example continues to matter for those thinking about character, influence, and creativity.
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Dr Crystal Hurd explores why CS Lewis remains such a compelling and influential figure today. An educator, poet, and researcher from Virginia, Crystal is the author of 'The Leadership of C.S. Lewis: 10 Traits to Encourage Change and Growth' and a contributor to 'Women and C.S. Lewis'. Drawing on her doctoral research and a paper presented at the 2024 Undiscovered CS Lewis Conference, she reflects on Lewis as a model of transformational leadership.
The conversation ranges across humility, moral vision, courage, intellect, and duty, showing how Lewis translated timeless wisdom into stories and ideas that still resonate. From wartime Britain to modern culture, Crystal argues that Lewis’ influence endures because truth never goes out of style.
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Dr Crystal Hurd, an educator, poet, and researcher from Virginia, shares about her extensive work on CS Lewis. Dr Hurd discusses her first encounter with Lewis' writings and how it transformed her faith and worldview. She also delves into her doctoral research on CS Lewis's leadership qualities and how he served as a transformational leader. Other topics include Lewis's literary influence and personal reflections on how his work has impacted her life.
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In this episode of The CS Lewis Podcast, Ruth Jackson introduces a special conference paper by Charlie Reeder, recorded at the 2024 Undiscovered CS Lewis Conference at George Fox University. Charlie explores 'Spirits in Bondage', Lewis’ little-known first published work, written while he was still an atheist, and argues that it holds the key to understanding Lewis’s lifelong theme of longing.
Tracing the idea of 'Sehnsucht' —a deep, restless desire for a “hidden country”—Charlie shows how Lewis’ early bitterness toward God already contains the seeds of the vision later fulfilled in 'The Pilgrim’s Regress', 'The Weight of Glory', 'Narnia', and beyond. This episode offers a rich literary and theological journey through Lewis’ imagination, revealing how longing ultimately points not just to a place, but to a person.
For Charlie's Substack: https://theoxfordreeder.substack.com/
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In this episode of The CS Lewis Podcast, Ruth Jackson is joined by Charlie Reeder, a recent Oxford graduate whose award-winning research explores the theme of longing in the work of CS Lewis. Drawing on his dissertation and a paper presented at the 2024 Undiscovered CS Lewis Conference, Charlie unpacks Lewis’s early poetry collection 'Spirits in Bondage' and its surprising connections to Lewis’s later Christian vision.
The conversation explores the idea of Sehnsucht that deep, aching desire for something beyond this world and how Lewis wrestled with it long before his conversion. From the Marion E. Wade Center archives to 'The Pilgrim’s Regress' and 'The Weight of Glory', this episode reveals how longing for the “hidden country” runs like a golden thread through Lewis’s life, faith, and imagination.
For Charlie's Substack: https://theoxfordreeder.substack.com/
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Ruth Jackson is joined by theologian and Lewis scholar Stefan Knibbe to explore “revolutions” in CS Lewis’ thinking about freedom, suffering and hell. Drawing on 'The Problem of Pain', 'Surprised by Joy' and 'Till We Have Faces', Stefan traces how Lewis moves from a focus on free will as the right to accept or reject God, towards freedom as liberation from sin by God’s grace. He shows how George MacDonald’s vision of God’s relentless love and even his view of hell helped reshape Lewis’ later work, and why encountering God himself rather than neat arguments becomes Lewis’ deepest answer to the problem of evil. Recorded at the 2024 “Undiscovered CS Lewis” conference at George Fox University, this episode will send you back to Lewis with fresh eyes again.
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Stefan Knibbe joins to share how his studies led him to focus on the works of CS Lewis and how Lewis has shaped his thinking and faith. He speaks about his paper, “Freedom, Suffering, and Hell in Till We Have Faces: Lewis’ Shifting Views,” and why Lewis’ ideas on freedom shifted over time. Stefan also discusses the influence of George MacDonald and why the connection between freedom, suffering, and hell is so central to Lewis’ theology.
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Ruth Jackson is joined by Joseph Weigel, firefighter and podcast host, for the final episode of this series. Joseph gives insight into his paper, titled 'Dr. Dimble's Neutrals', that he presented at the 2024 Undiscovered CS Lewis Conference. We then get to hear his paper live from the conference, which was held at Geroge Fox University.
'Men with Chests' podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6otTZ3UJZONxUQVCONKHko
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Ruth Jackson is joined by Joseph Weigel, a firefighter and host of the podcast "Men with Chests". They explore Dr Dimble’s role in 'That Hideous Strength' and his intriguing idea of “neutral” spiritual beings. They discuss how these neutrals draw on medieval thought, whether Lewis intended readers to take them seriously, and what this reveals about his wider views on the supernatural. Their conversation also touches on Merlin’s place in the story and how Lewis blends ancient magic with Christian themes. Finally, they consider why Lewis’ ideas about spiritual beings still matter today and how might speak into modern questions about technology, ethics, and even AI.
'Men with Chests' podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6otTZ3UJZONxUQVCONKHko
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Firefighter and podcaster Joseph Weigel joins Ruth Jackson to explore the “fairy tale for grown-ups” that is 'That Hideous Strength' part of CS Lewis's Space Trilogy. Joseph shares why Lewis’ dystopian thriller is his favourite of the Space Trilogy, unpacks the marriage of Mark and Jane, and examines the unsettling ambitions of the N.I.C.E. They discuss Lewis’ provocative claim that magic and modern science are “twin” quests for power, how Merlin functions in the story, and what this all means for Christians today.
'Men with Chests' podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6otTZ3UJZONxUQVCONKHko
+ Support us here: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/geolink/donate
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Ruth Jackson talks with firefighter and podcast host Joseph Weigel about CS Lewis’ "The Abolition of Man" and why its insights into truth, morality, and modern culture still matter today. They explore how Lewis’ ideas about courage, sacrifice, and integrity resonate in everyday life and ask whether these themes have any relevance to the challenges faced by first responders. Ruth also invites reflection on how, if at all, faith shapes the way we approach demanding or high-stress situations.
'Men with Chests' podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6otTZ3UJZONxUQVCONKHko
+ Support us here: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/geolink/donate
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Ruth Jackson speaks with Lilian Lindén, who has a degree in philosophy of religion, about her paper from the 2024 Undiscovered CS Lewis Conference held at George Fox University. Her paper was titled "Did Lewis credit Barfield for what he learned from Steiner?". We then get to hear her paper live from the conference.
Lilian's PhD: https://doria.fi/handle/10024/189132?locale=len
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Ruth Jackson speaks with Lilian Lindén about CS Lewis’ early philosophical development and his long-running debate with his friend Owen Barfield, the so-called “Great War.” They unpack Lewis’s shift from realism to idealism, explore Barfield’s influence through anthroposophy, and consider how figures like Rudolf Steiner shaped their discussions. The conversation also looks at Lewis’ rejection of materialism, why these philosophical questions still matter, and how his early intellectual battles continue to speak into today’s sceptical and materialist culture.
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Ruth Jackson speaks with Lilian Lindén, who has a degree in philosophy of religion, about how CS Lewis continues to shape faith and thought today. They discuss how she first encountered Lewis, the impact his writings have had on her life, and why his ideas remain so compelling more than 60 years after his death. Lilian also presented a paper at the 2024 Undiscovered CS Lewis Conference, titled "Did Lewis Credit Barfield for What He Learned from Steiner?" which we will be hearing in an upcoming episode.
For the Paul Anderson episodes:
https://www.premierunbelievable.com/the-cs-lewis-podcast/the-cs-lewis-podcast-223-paul-anderson-cs-lewis-and-the-gospel-of-john/19932.article
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+ For more shows, free ebook and newsletter visit our website
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Thank you for these discussions regarding the thoughts and inspiration from CS Lewis and current theologians. The complicated made simple, a walk of faith. I do enjoy them and the stories that give us a glimpse into the life and struggles of a real influencer. Randy
So good.